The Official Publication of The Minnesota Society of Professional …€¦ · The Official...

The Official Publication of The Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors

Volume 23, No. 1 Spring 2015

Also Inside:2015 CST Exam Information: page 6MSPS Roster Now Available: page 8Professional Development and Sur-veyor License Renewal: page 10Adverse Possession: page 11Annual Meeting Memories: page 12The Red Lake Reservation Bound-aries: An Overview and the South-ern Boundary: page 14And much more!

2014 MSPS President Denny Honsa (center) passes the gavel to 2015 President Connie Villari at the MSPS Annual Meet-ing. See inside for additional photos and information from the Annual Meeting.

Spring 2015 • Minnesota Surveyor • Copyright 2015 by the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors 3

“The liberty of the press shall forever remain invio-late and all persons may freely speak, write and publish their sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of such right...”

— Minnesota Constitution

IndexFrom the MSPS President, Connie Villari . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

From the Executive Director, Eric P. Ewald . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2015 CST Exam Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Memorial Fund Established for Family of Young Oklahoma Surveyor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

From the NSPS Governor, Tony Blumentritt . . . . . . . . . . . 7

MSPS Roster Now Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Professsional Development and Surveyor License Renewal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Index of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Adverse Possession, David J. Meyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The Red Lake Reservation Boundaries: An Overview and the Southern Boundary, Rod Squires . . . . . . . . . . 14

Firm Member Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Sustaining Member Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

About the CoverThe MSPS Annual Meeting was bigger and better than ever! More photos are shown on pages 5 and 12-13. Thanks to Executive Director Eric Ewald and Assistant Executive Director Becca Rogers for taking the photos.

MINNESOTA SOCIETy Of PROfESSIONAL SuRvEyORS

an affiliate ofNATIONAL SOCIETy Of PROfESSIONAL

SuRvEyORS AND AMERICAN CONgRESS ON SuRvEyINg AND MAPPINg

MINNESOTA SuRvEyORMinnesota Surveyor is the official publication of the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors. It is published quarterly and mailed to members and similar organizations on a complimentary basis. Material published is not copyrighted and may be reprinted without permission as long as credit is given to the MSPS Minnesota Surveyor. All material must be submitted by the first day of the month preceding the issue date, and should be directed to:

EDITORDave Zenk • (651) 366-3523 Fax: (651) 366-3444

MNDOT • 395 John Ireland Blvd., MS 541St. Paul, MN 55155

Email: [email protected]

Articles and columns appearing in this publication do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of MSPS or the Minnesota Surveyor staff, but are published as a service to MSPS members, the general public and for the betterment of the surveying profession. No responsibility is assumed for errors, misquotes, or deletions in content.

MINNESOTA SuRvEyOR ADvERTISINgLaurie Pumper • (651) 290-6273

ADvERTISINgThe Minnesota Surveyor accepts advertising from equipment suppliers and others offering surveying related services. The Firm Member Directory is limited to professional practitioners and member firms. There is no charge for “help wanted” or “equipment for sale” ads to practitioners whose main business is not equipment sales or rental. For more information, contact the MSPS Administrative Office.

MSPS OffICERS AND DIRECTORSPresident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Connie VillariPresident-Elect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan SkinnerPast President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dennis M. HonsaSecretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cynthia HiddeTreasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bryan BalcomeNSPS Governor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony BlumentrittDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Scott BergherrDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie CookDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marcus HamptonDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris MavisDirector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Stueber

ADMINISTRATIvE OffICEEric P. Ewald, Executive Director

Becca Rogers, Assistant Executive Director(651) 203-7256 • (800) 890-LAND

Fax (651) 290-2266Email: [email protected]

1000 Westgate Drive, Suite 252 • St. Paul, MN 55114

www.mnsurveyor.com

Minnesota Surveyor upcoming DeadlinesIssue Due Date Publication

Summer 2015 May 1, 2015 JuneFall 2015 August 17, 2015 SeptemberWinter 2015-16 November 14, 2015 DecemberSpring 2016 February 20, 2016 March

4 Spring 2015 • Minnesota Surveyor • Copyright 2015 by the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors

I’m finding a whole lot of irony in the fact that I’m writ-ing an article for the Spring issue of the Minnesota Surveyor on a day with another rush hour snow event and predicted blizzard. Never a dull moment in the life of a Minnesota sur-veyor trying to get projects done in a race against Mother Nature! As far as MSPS goes, my term a president is starting off with a bang! We’ve had a lot of progress in three areas this year: Legislative Initiatives, Public Relations, and Young Professionals.

Legislative Initiatives:Due to lots of work by the past presidents and the MSPS

board, many projects are firing up or in full swing. One of the best pieces of news I have is that our new government relations consultant, Nick de Julio of Ewald Consulting, has been doing a great job at the legislature. We had a few items that needed some clean-up in the statutes, so Nick has been working with the Government Relations Committee to get an author for our bill and to usher it through hearings. So far the MSPS/MACS housekeeping bill (HF 0771, SF 0794) is moving through the legislature with broad bi-partisan sup-port. My thanks to Nick for the excellent job he has done securing authors across both parties. This has really helped move the bill along, as has the testimony from Mike Welling and Lisa Hanni on behalf of the bill. As always, thank you to Rick Morey, chair of the Government Relations committee, for coordinating the efforts!

In the past we’ve been relatively passive regarding any leg-islative changes; I believe our work this year has laid a great foundation for a more active phase for MSPS and the survey-ors of the state in the legislative arena. Next year, we hope to work with the Real Estate Section of the Minnesota State Bar regarding some clean-up legislation regarding CICs. Thanks to lots of work by the CIC Manual Committee, made up of Scott Marlin of Stearns County, Mike Winfield of Ramsey County and Dan Stueber of I & S Group, we are finalizing a new CIC manual. During the process of this much-needed update, the group found many discrepancies and issues in Minnesota Statutes relating to CICs that we hope to present to the Real Estate Section for review and support.

Many MSPS members have expressed concerns with the current situation relating to mylar requirements for plat re-cording. In the coming year, I hope to approach the county surveyors and recorders in the state to start a dialog on ways we might update, or offer options for future recording of plats

to ensure reliable delivery, and reasonable fees for recordable plat documents in a world that’s changing technologically, while retaining the archival qualities offered by the matte mylars of previous generations.

Public Relations:Over the last several years, the MSPS board has heard a

recurring theme throughout Minnesota. People all over feel that there are not enough qualified surveyors and technicians to fill positions that have followed the state/country’s eco-nomic recovery. The survey programs at the technical schools and St. Cloud State University are growing slightly, but still need additional students. There are certainly not enough graduates to fill the positions available throughout all sectors of the surveying profession. Our problem as surveyors and the society is, “How do we increase awareness of land surveying, land surveyors and the vibrancy (and financial viability) as a professional career path with the general public?” Though we don’t have a ton of money to throw at this problem, the board agreed it was time to get some help on ways we might address these questions, and others relating to how survey-ors are perceived by other associated professions. The Public Relations Committee, chaired by Paul Vogel, has developed and distributed an RFP for Public Relations services to a few qualified firms. Though a few firms declined a formal oppor-tunity to bid due to the specific expertise required, we expect to receive several proposals and hope to conduct interviews with the qualified firms during March.

As with legislative initiatives, we expect to spend a num-ber of years working toward the goal of improving our im-age and interacting with broader society to advance the goals of the profession. In the short term, we hope to develop a few tools in-house to help individual surveyors reach out in their communities. The goal is to have a couple of Pow-erPoint presentations prepared for membership use at civic events, educational outreach and for presentations to other related professionals. Several members in the Twin Cities are also teaming with surveying educators with outreach to high school students at STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Schools and career fairs. After the first experience with a career fair this year, PR Committee member Chris Ma-vis noted that several teachers commented they didn’t even know Land Surveying was a career option. That just rein-

from the MSPS PresidentConnie Villari

Continued on page 9


from the MSPS Executive DirectorEric P. Ewald, CAE

We were delighted to see such strong participation at our recent Annual Meeting! The past several Annual Meetings have had high attendance, and this is likely due to a couple of reasons. We’ve continued to have the Annual Meeting in a metro location, which has contributed to higher participation — and we know that many attendees needed the PDH cred-its. We also heard from many of you that business continues to increase and keep everyone busy. We certainly hope that this continues for all of our members and that you all have a busy, productive and profitable year!

During the business session at the Annual Meeting, we heard about the good work of the Society’s committees and some of their plans for 2015. MSPS has been actively lobby-ing at the Capitol this session; this is a change from the last few years. The Government Relations Committee has worked hard alongside MSPS Lobbyist Nick de Julio to author a bill addressing the present mylar concerns and testify at the com-mittee hearings. All of the committees do great work for the Society, with the contributions of many individual members. MSPS would not be able to accomplish everything it does without these volunteer committees. They are what has built and successfully sustained this organization for 63 years!

The new Board of Directors had its first meeting imme-diately following the closing session on Friday. By tradition, this is typically a brief meeting from a business perspective — more an opportunity for the group to meet and start form-ing the critical bond they will need as they embark on the year ahead. I am very proud of this group of volunteer lead-

ers. Between the Board and the committee chairs and members, many precious hours of time make this Society as great as it is.

MSPS continues to be a strong Society, as proven year after year by the quality and dedication shown by the award winners. I’d like to congratulate the following individuals on their MSPS Awards:

Patrick D. Veraguth was presented the William S. Kelley, Jr. Community Service Award

Warren P. Smith received the E.A. “Bud” Rathburn Award of Merit

Peter W. Jenkins was recognized as the MSPS 2014 Sur-veyor of the Year

With the Annual Meeting behind us now, I hope you will all look ahead to the next big event – the Summer Meeting. This year it is being sponsored by Chapter 3. The volunteers are already working hard to finalize the agenda. The event will be held Thursday, July 30, and Friday, July 31, 2015 at the St. James Hotel in Red Wing, MN. This will be a fantastic event at a great location, and I hope to see you there!

Best Regards,

Eric Ewald

At left: MLS Foundation Scholarship Winners

At right: MSPS Past President Harold Peter-son with Map Contest Award winner Sharon Morin at the MSPS Annual Meeting.


Memorial fund Established for family of young Oklahoma Surveyor

This article is reprinted from the December 2014 NSPS News and Views. Although the event is not local, we have a chance to make something positive happen from this horrible event. It is a reminder that the work we do can be dangerous. Moreover, it is a reminder that work safety is something that should not be taken lightly. Those reminders could save lives. Please note that there is a memorial fund set up for the Crockett family.

On November 24, 2014, John David Crockett was oper-ating a surveying instrument on the side of a residential street in North Tulsa, OK, when he was struck by a SUV, resulting in his death on November 25. He was laid to rest on Decem-ber 2, 2014. He was 32 years old.

Police say the SUV's driver lost control and drove onto the grass, hitting Crockett and his equipment. "We had safety cones set up down here at the back sight point, and we had cones on our occupy point. That's where he was," said Danny Hawley, a coworker. After hitting the man, the woman driv-ing the SUV continued on, hit a parked car, then left the scene and went to a family member’s house. Police say family convinced her to return.

John has two young daughters, 8 and 6 years old. His em-ployer, Sisemore Weisz & Associates, has established the John David Crockett Memorial Fund for his daughters, and asks that anyone wishing to make a contribution to this account please make their check payable to "Cianna and Kyra Crock-ett" at RCB Bank. Donations can be delivered to any branch location, or mailed to RCB Bank, 5000 West Kenosha St, Broken Arrow, OK 74012. Donations can also be delivered to Sisemore Weisz & Associates, 6111 E. 32nd Place Tulsa, OK 74135 for deposit in the fund account.

On behalf of surveyors nationwide, NSPS extends its sin-cere sympathy to John’s family, coworkers, and friends. “He was one of us”, said NSPS Executive Curt Sumner, "we are a small, but close-knit professional community. When we lose any of our fellow surveyors we are saddened, but when we lose one so young we are heartbroken for both his personal, and professional, families."

MSPS Annual Summer Meeting

MSPS Chapter 3 is busily planning for this year’s annual Summer Meeting, July 30-31 at the historic St. James Hotel in Red Wing, MN. Watch for additional information and a registration form in the Summer issue of the Minnesota Sur-veyor magazine.

The St. James Hotel was established in 1875. Each room’s thoughtful amenities and charming 19th century character are sure to please. Each guest room is equipped with high-speed wireless Internet access, flat screen television and a vari-ety of cable and HD channels. Many rooms offer an excellent view of the Mississippi River.

The beauty of its bluffs along the Mississippi River draw people from across the world to downtown Red Wing. Henry David Thoreau hiked up Barn Bluff, took in the vista and was favorably impressed. The area offers multiple ways to take in the scenery — from bike trips along the Cannon Valley Trail and through miles of mountain bike trails in Memorial Park, to walking tours of downtown Red Wing, to climb-ing those bluffs. There are several golf courses in the city and nearby (and one of them is sure to be the setting for the an-nual MSPS golf tournament).


from the NSPS governorTony Blumentritt

NSPS continues its rebuilding. Currently, 46 states are participating in the 100% membership program. This equates to around 16,000 members. Last year at this time, 16 states were participating — which provided NSPS with around 6,400 members.

Along with the remarkable growth, other changes with-in NSPS will continue. As of the closing of the spring 2015 NSPS meeting, the Board of Governors and Area Directors will no longer exist. Each state that adopts the 100% program has a seat with the NSPS board of directors. With 46 states participating in the 100% program, there are now 46 voting members of the board of directors. Each state not participat-ing in the 100% program will be allowed non-voting repre-sentation at the board of directors meetings. NSPS meetings will continue as three-day meetings to be held in the spring and fall each year.

NSPS has adopted a strategic plan with four goals.

Goal 1: Grow and strengthen NSPS as a na-tional professional society and improve its value to the members.

Goal 2: Enhance NSPS communications activities to more effectively engage members.

Goal 3: Enhance and improve the professional image of surveyors.

Goal 4: Expand and strengthen government affairs ef-forts.

The entire strategic plan is on the NSPS website and on the MSPS website. Now that the reorganization is nearing completion, NSPS will focus on these goals.

NSPS will create an area on its website as a resource to publish public relations information and documentation along with any contact details provided by NSPS board mem-bers, state executives, member surveyors and other sources deemed relevant to public relations for the profession of land surveying by the NSPS Public Relations Committee.

NSPS is also investigating optional certifications for spe-cialized aspects of land survey-ing such as geodetic surveyor certification and ALTA/NSPS land title surveyor certification. Other optional certifications may follow.

Please review the NSPS website (www.nsps.us.com) from time to time for updates and for the latest information on the Governmental Affairs program. Monthly government Affairs updates are emailed to the membership and are available un-der the advocacy tab on the NSPS website.

The NSPS Spring meetings will be held April 13-16, 2015, at the Crystal City Hilton in Arlington, VA. The meet-ings will include student competition, committee meetings,

business meetings, and Lobby Day. During Lobby Day, NSPS governors and directors will meet with their national representatives to pres-ent a position paper on national legislative issues monitored by the NSPS Joint Government Af-fairs Committee. This year, the NSPS meetings will be held in conjunction with the MAPPS (Management Association of Private Photo-

grammetric Surveyors) Federal Programs Conference, the DHS Licensed Data Forum, and NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Programs. NSPS members, which include all MSPS members, are welcome to attend any NSPS meeting.

In closing, I would like to thank NSPS President-Elect Jon Warren for attending the MSPS 2015 Annual Meeting. It’s through interactions such as this that MSPS members can meet NSPS officials, and conversely NSPS officials can fully understand the issues affecting land surveyors in Minnesota.

If you have any concerns that you feel should be ad-dressed by or within NSPS, please relay your concerns to the MSPS board of directors or to me at [email protected].


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Job Seekers:The MSPS Job Bank has continued to see strong use in

recent months. Find your next position at http://www.mn-surveyor.com/jobbankdisplaylistings.cfm — or post your résumé by going to the MSPS website at www.mnsurveyor.com; under the “Careers” button, click on “Post a Résumé.” There is no fee to post résumés — just fill out an easy online form.

Employers:Next time your company has an opening for a Surveyor,

LSIT, Survey Crew Technician, or another position related to surveying, be sure to check out the MSPS Job Bank! The service is free to MSPS Firm Members. Others pay just $100 to reach a targeted audience of Licensed Surveyors and LSITs. You can also check out the résumés of job seekers at no cost.

MSPS Member Benefit:

free Job Listingsupdate from Dunwoody College of Technology

From Kelly Ness, Principal Instructor

This photo was taken on the last day of Dunwoody's “In-troduction to Surveying” course. We had 18 students in the class, and we are excited about the opportunities for our stu-dents. Students graduated in Fall ’14 and additional students graduate in Spring ’15. We are offering rolling enrollment for Spring or Fall. Also, our surveying club plans to attend the National Surveyors meeting in DC this spring — so if you are interested in donating to help their cause, don’t hesitate!


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forces the need for our outreach. After a few pilot projects, we hope to have a toolkit for others around the state to work with schools at job fairs, technology events or classrooms to get kids and teachers interested in what we do.

Our hope is that with a combination of efforts by a pub-lic relations consultant, some significant work by the Public Relations Committee and the participation of individual sur-veyors and firms throughout the state, we will get the word out about what land surveyors do and what a great career it can be.

young Professionals:What a year our young professionals have had! Several

events stand out – namely Jon Gustafson’s trip to Malaysia and participation with the FIG (International) Young Survey-ors meeting, and Marcus Hampton’s participation with the NSPS meetings and leadership efforts to start a nationwide NSPS Young Professionals group. Giving the next generations a voice and room to develop into the leaders of tomorrow is a critical component of a healthy profession – especially one aging quickly like surveyors.

As you all know, we’ve been supporting an active YP group in Minnesota for several years. With a combination of social gatherings, technical presentations (i.e., a fall meeting at CTC for some Civil 3D tips and tricks), and interactive presentations with older members (thank you, Ron Murphy, for teaching and EFN for hosting) who are willing to share their knowledge with younger folks to foster growth, we hope to grow an ever-more dynamic group that will attract oth-er young people to surveying and create a strong group to take on the challenges of tomorrow’s profession. CTC and EFN Surveying deserve special acknowledgement for hosting meetings and their support the Young Professional Group. Look for more events that will be posted to the MSPS – YP Facebook or Linkedin sites.

2015/2016 looks to be an active year. I’ll try to provide additional updates in future issues of the surveyor, and will rely on all of you to contact me if you have ideas, concerns or comments. You can reach me via email at [email protected]. Thanks for all your support!

President’s Report, continued from page 4


Advertise in the Minnesota Surveyor!

More than 600 members of the sur-veying community in Minnesota read the award-winning Minnesota Surveyor maga-zine. Advertising in the magazine is a great way to reach that audience!

2015 ADvERTISINg RATES:1/3 page (4.5” wide x 4.75” high) .... $119.00 1/2 page (7.5” wide x 5” high) ......... $163.00 2/3 page (4.5” wide x 10” high) ....... $210.00 Full page (7.5” wide x 10” high) ....... $305.00 Back Cover (7.5” wide x 5.25” high) $210.00

SuSTAININg MEMBERS receive a 20% Discount!

Deadline for our next issue(Spring 2015):

May 1 for June publication

Contact Laurie Pumper at the MSPS Office, [email protected] or (651) 290-6273 for more information. Please send ads via email, preferably in high-resolution pdf format, to Laurie Pumper at [email protected].

Index of AdvertisersBerntsen Survey Markers . . . . . . . . . 8Frontier Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Harrison Marker Co . . . . . . Back CoverLeica Geosystems.. Inside Front Cover, 16J.R. Nelson & Company . . . . . . . . . 10RDO Integrated Controls . . . . . . . . . 18Rinke Noonan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

For more information about advertising with MSPS, contact Laurie Pumper

at (651) 290-6273 or email [email protected]

J.R.Nelson & Company Photographically reproduced Mylars as mandated by Minnesota Statutes 505.021

401 N.Third Street Suite 110 Minneapolis, MN 55401

Open 7:30 am – 4:30 pm by Appointment.

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Subdivision 1. Plat Format A plat shall be prepared on four mil transparent reproducible film or the equivalent, and shall be reproduced by a photographic process. Plat sheet size shall be 22 inches by 34 inches.

MSPS will recognize interesting and outstanding work by our members via a special section in the Minnesota Surveyor magazine! We’re looking for projects that presented challenges requiring creative solutions, unique proj-ects, big projects, weird projects, etc. Simply write up a description of the project including the basics of the project, some description of what made it unique and any particular surveying techniques that you employed. Include photos and any other documents that help tell the story. Send submissions to Staff Editor Laurie Pumper at [email protected]. The deadline for the Summer 2015 issue is May 1.

MSPS Members: get Recognized for and Share your Work on Projects!

The Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design has asked us to share the following with you as they have had many questions about it:

In order to renew in 2016, licensees and certificate holders must report a minimum of two professional development hours of professional ethics. The total number of professional development hours required (24) has not changed. The ethics hours must have been earned during the biennium to which they are applied and shall not be used toward carryover. This means that two professional ethics hours earned during 2014 and/or 2015 are re-quired for the 2016 renewal.

Professional Development & Surveyor License Renewal


I get calls from landowners who tell me that they have had their lands surveyed, or maybe their neighbors’ lands have been surveyed, and they have discovered:

1. That their neighbor is occupying their property; or2. They have been using their neighbor’s property; or3. Their neighbor to one side is using their land, but

they’re using the neighbor’s land on the other side.

In most cases, they tell me that the surveyor said the land belongs to them, or the surveyor said they have lost the land because it has been used by the neighbor for over 15 years. Many people are angry because they did not even realize that the neighbor was on their land. Others, in good faith, thought they had always owned what turns out to be the neighbor’s property.

As a caution, before any surveyor makes any statement about ownership, a few things need to be understood.

First, the use of someone else’s land for 15 years does not automatically make it the possessor’s property. All the 15 years does is to give the person in possession the opportunity to go to District Court and prove their case. It is not automatic ownership. Using someone else’s land for 15 years is nothing more than a ticket to go to court. The person in possession needs to prove their case. And, there are many reasons why the 15 years may or may not translate into ownership or loss of land.

Minn. Stat. § 541.02 provides a 15-year time for the ti-tleholder to recover possession. It is not an automatic change of title. Instead, the owner of the land has 15 years from the date possession begins to recover their property from the per-son in wrongful possession.

Besides 15 years of possession, Section 541.02 requires that real estate taxes be paid on the property for at least five of the 15 years. This means that in addition to possession, someone occupying another’s property must also pay the real estate taxes for five years. This is an added protection for a property owner.

This five-year requirement to pay real estate taxes does not apply to a boundary dispute. However, there are limits. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that a farmer who had farmed the neighbor’s 16 acres for 20 years, but did not pay real estate taxes, did not acquire ownership in a boundary dispute. Sixteen acres was simply too much land to be consid-ered a common boundary dispute.

Permission breaks the 15 years. If there is permission to use the land at the beginning of possession, an extraordinary amount of evidence is required to prove that the use later be-

came hostile, and that the hostile use continued for 15 years. Permission any time during the 15 years breaks the adverse possession, and the clock starts over.

The law of adverse possession allows successive owners to tack their use. If the adverse possession started 20 years ago, as example, when the original person in possession sells the property, the person now in possession may tack or add their time, together with the prior owner’s time, to reach the 15 years.

The person claiming adverse possession and ownership of property must prove that his/her possession was open, exclu-sive, adverse to the record owner and continuous by “clear and convincing” evidence. This is a very high standard of proof. It requires the person in possession to keep others out and use the land as their own property. The Courts say that the person in possession must “fly the flag high” so that the true owner can see that that someone else is in possession.

It is very difficult to successfully claim adverse possession of a wooded area, or any land that has not been maintained, mowed or brushed. Sporadic mowing, tree cutting, brushing may not be enough evidence for a Court to find adverse pos-session.

Adverse possession only extends to the area actually un-der possession. A building constructed across a property line for over 15 years, as example, does not necessarily mean that additional land around the building claimed for maintenance is lost to the record owner. Adverse possession boundaries do not need to be straight lines. They do not need to extend from one end of the property to the other.

Adverse possession does not extend to government land. Adverse possession rights do not extend to recreational uses. Hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and similar activities do not give adverse rights. Torrens property is not subject to adverse possession. As with any law, there are very narrow exceptions to these rules.

Adverse possession cases are fact-intensive and the source of hard feelings between neighbors. I recommend to survey-ors that if they believe there is a problem with a boundary to first talk to the person who hired you and explain the prob-lem. Try to counsel both sides to be calm and not pick a need-less fight.

©2015, Rinke Noonan Law Firm and David J. Meyers, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

David J. Meyers is certified by the Minnesota State Bar Asso-ciation as a real property law specialist. He is the Examiner of Titles for 5 Minnesota counties.

Adverse Possessionby David J. Meyers


MSPS Annual Meeting Memories

Above: A very full and engaged breakout session.

Above: Speaker Joe Paira during a breakout session.

Left: The auctioneer from the MLS Foundation auction (center) took a moment to smile with Tony Blumentritt and Connie Peterson, who are showing off their auction winnings.

Below: The MLS Foundation Auction drew a good crowd and raised funds for scholarships.


Above: Second annual bags tournament.

Above: Lunch prior to the Awards Ceremony and Induction of the 2015 Board of Directors.

Past President Harold Peterson (right) presents Pete Jenkins with the Surveyor of the Year Award.

Past President Harold Peterson (right) with Daniel Ekrem, Maps Contest Winner

Left: Maps Contest Winner Michael Williams with Past President Harold Peterson.

Right: Patrick Veraguth was pre-sented with the William S. Kelley, Jr., Community Service Award by Past President Harold Peterson.


MSPS Annual Meeting Memories (continued from page 13)

Above: David Landecker (right) leads an educational session.

Below: Cynthia Hidde and Connie Villari.

Above: Manking Lee (left) and Marcus Hampton.

Below: Jess Myers leads a session on public relations.

Above: John Freemyer and Eric Ewald.

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IntroductionBetween the western boundary of the area ceded by the

Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians in 1855 and the eastern boundary of the area ceded by the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians in 1863 lay an area that became the Red Lake Indian Reservation. (Fig. 1) The cession lines, separating land sub-ject to survey and disposal under the land laws of the United States from land that was not, became lines that defined an area over which bands retained some jurisdiction, and needed to be defined. Here, I give an overview of the surveys that de-fined those lines and then a detailed description of the surveys of the southern boundary. Describing these surveys gives me an opportunity to look at the field notes made by the depu-ties who ran the line and the field notes and the plats of the townships through which the line passed in my continuing endeavor to understand the content and organization of these historical records relied upon by land surveyors and more fully understand the surveying process.1

A portion of the boundary line, certainly the southern boundary described here, was run before the rectangular sur-veys had reached the area. As a consequence, perhaps, there are no maps of the actual boundary line.2 The line was lat-er protracted onto the appropriate township plats after the

rectangular surveys were made, so creating government lots where the rectangular survey lines closed against the bound-ary.3 Interestingly the survey of the Reservation line and the rectangular surveys often resulted in two plats, one showing the boundary line and the survey lines inside the reservation and one showing the boundary line and the survey lines out-side the reservation—but I will not describe this any further in the following.

The Red Lake Indian Reservation EstablishedOn February 22, 1855, the Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake

Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians ceded “all their right, title, and interest” to land in a large portion of central Minnesota Territory.4 The northwestern boundary of this ces-sion, known as Royce Area 357, ran from the mouth of the Black River in Rainy Lake to its source, then in a straight line to the northern extremity of Turtle Lake, and then in another straight line to the mouth of the Wild Rice River – where it joined the Red River of the North.5 (Fig. 1) Almost two decades later, on October 2, 1863, the “chiefs, head-men and warriors” of the Red Lake and Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians ceded more than 11 million acres of land in Min-nesota and the Dakota territories.6 In the treaty the cession boundary line of what is called Royce Area 445 in Minnesota was described as,

Beginning at the point where the international boundary between the United States and the British possessions intersects the shore of the Lake of the Woods; thence in a direct line southwesterly to the head of Thief River; thence down the main channel of said Thief River to its mouth on the Red Lake River; thence in a southeasterly direction, in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice River, to the point where such line would intersect the northwestern boundary of a tract ceded to the United States by a treaty concluded at Washington on the 22d day of February, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-five, with the Mississippi, Pillager, and Lake Winnebigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians; thence along the said boundary-line of the said cession to the mouth of Wild Rice River; thence up the main channel of the Red River to the mouth of the Shayenne ….7 (Fig. 1)

Continued on page 15

The Red Lake Reservation Boundaries: An Overview and the Southern Boundary

by Rod Squires, Department of Geography, Environment and Society, University of Minnesota

Figure 1. The 1855 and 1863 Land Cessions that Created the Boundary of the Original Red Lake Reservation.8


The Red Lake Reservation Boundaries, continued from page 14

Between these two cessions, bounded on the east by the limit of the area ceded in 1855 and on the west by the limit of the area ceded in 1863, was an area — Royce Area 446 — that the Red Lake and Pillager Bands did not cede, an area that became the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The boundar-ies of this reservation, which no longer exists, were surveyed over a period of time.9 (Fig. 2)

The southern boundary, the subject of this article, was surveyed by Thomas G. Merrill under a contract from C.T. Brown, the Surveyor General of Minnesota. Unfortunately Merrill did not record the date of his work. A portion of the line was resurveyed by George F. Hamilton between July and September 1879 to enable him to carry out his contract to establish townships and apparently without official sanction. The entire line was resurveyed by Abner Darling between Au-gust and October, 1885.

The western boundary line, from “the point where the in-ternational boundary between the United States and the Brit-ish possessions intersects the shore of the Lake of the Woods;

thence in a direct line southwesterly to the head of Thief Riv-er; thence down the main channel of said Thief River to its mouth on the Red Lake River; thence down the main channel of said Thief River to its mouth on the Red Lake River” was surveyed by Warren Adley in October and November 1873.

The eastern boundary line, a line forming part of the 1855 cession, from the “mouth of Black River; thence, up that river, to its source; thence, in a straight line, to the north-ern extremity of Turtle Lake” was surveyed by Nathan Butler in October 1875.11

The Southern Boundary (fig. 3, 4)On June 24, 1872, the Commissioner of the General

Land Office, Willis Drummond, “at the insistence of the In-dian Agent as per his letter of the 14th inst., and concurred in by that office the 13th inst., the Hon. Secretary of the Interior the 17th inst., …” directed C. T. Brown, the Surveyor Gen-eral of Minnesota, to contract with “a reliable deputy” to run the southern boundary of the Red Lake Indian Reservation at a maximum of $14/mile,


Boundary Deputy Contract Date BLM VolumeSouth Thomas G. Merrill Nov. 21, 1872 R0008 3-95Copy of South10 Thomas G. Merrill Nov. 21, 1872 R0127 455-483Portion of South George F. Hamilton May 29, 1879 E5264 65-113Resurveyed South Abner Darling June 22, 1885 R0007 3-154West Warren Adley June 17, 1873 R0002 3-69Copy of West Warren Adley June 17, 1873 R0127 495-513East Nathan Butler March 26, 1875 R0022 3-88Diminished George A. Burbank Sept. 15, 1890 R0020 5-110

Figure 2. Surveying Details of the Red Lake Indian Reservations Boundaries.

Figure 3. The Red Lake Reservations.13


from the mouth of the of the Thief River on the Red Lake River in a south-easterly direction “in a direct line toward the head of Wild Rice River to the point where such line would intersect the northwestern boundary of a tract ceded to the United States by a treaty concluded at Washington on the 22d day of Feby. 1855” (Treaty Oct. 2 1863 10 Stats. at Large p. 1165).12

On August 12 The Surveyor General of Minnesota, C. T. Brown, responded to the Commissioner’s letter, writing,

Respecting the boundary lines of the Red Lake Resn I have to say that the two intersecting points named in the treaty of 1863, viz the mouth of Thief River and the point of crossing the boundary line running SW from Turtle Lake and also the head waters of the Wild Rice River and the head of Turtle lake being as yet not located by surveys, the running of the South Western line from the mouth of Thieving River towards the head waters of the Wild Rice River and the running of the South Eastern line from the point of intersection to the Turtle Lake will require two (random) lines, one from the 12th Standard Parallel to the mouth of Thieving River, estimated at from 30 to 40 miles, and from the point of intersection to the head of Turtle Lake, estimated from 30 to 40 miles.14 The instructions of the department make no provisions for the expense of running these random lines and I am unable to contract with responsible parties for running the lines at the proposed rates unless the necessary preliminary or random lines are to be included as part of the contract. The Indian Agent represents these surveys as important to protect the rights of the Red Lake Indians and in urgent (sic) for me to hasten the work. This is impossible to do at the rate ($14.00) per mile named in your instructions. I enclose a communication from Nathan Butler

Esq. an experienced surveyor and well acquainted with that region of country in regard to the random lines necessary to be run and the price at which the surveys can be made.

I fully endorse his estimate as to the number of miles necessary to be run and the rates at which it can be done.15

Two months later, on August 22, the Commissioner of the General Land office wrote to the Surveyor General,

In reference to the survey of the lines of the Red Lake Reservation from the mouth of Thief River towards the head waters of the Wild Rice river and the running of the line from the point of intersection to Turtle Lake, which lines are as yet situated beyond the lines of public surveys, you say that $14 per lineal mile allowed in my instruction are inadequate and that you are unable to contract with responsible parties unless you are authorized to allow the per mileage for two random lines necessary as preliminary to the ascertainment of the direction of the true lines equal to about 75 or 80 miles in addition to the true lines.

Realizing the force and justice of your observations and the urgent necessity for the survey of the boundaries referred to I have to say that the payment for random lines however necessary cannot be included as part of the contract, there existing an interdict in law to this effect.

To obviate the difficulty in the way you are authorized to stipulate in contract or contracts the following states viz: twenty-five ($25.00) per lineal mile for surveying, running and conspicuously marking the boundaries of the Red Lake Indian reservation described in my instructions of the 24th ulto. ….

You will issue the contract for survey payable out of the Appropriation of $150,000 per act of Congress approved May 29, 1872 instead of the Appropriation of $55,000 as directed in my instructions of the 24th ult.16

Accordingly, on November 21, 1872, the Surveyor General of Minnesota awarded Thomas G. Merrill a contract to survey “the exterior Boundaries of the Red Lake Indian reservation from the mouth of Thief river in a direction towards the head of the Wild Rice River, also from the head of Turtle Lake in a direction towards the mouth of the Wild Rice



Figure 4. The Southern Boundary of the Red Lake Indian Reservation



River to the intersection.”17 (Fig. 4) Just how Merrill was to execute the work is unknown because there are no special in-structions.

Merrill began his work by establishing the location of the mouth of the Thief River, writing,

I commenced at the corner to section 31, Range 45 & section 36 Range 46 West of 5th P. M. of Township 153 North, on the 13th Standard Parallel, as I found the mouth of the Thief River to be in North West ¼ of section 33 Tp.154 Range 43.18 I ascertained the head of the Wild Rice River to be in the North West ¼ of sec 17 Tp.145 R.36 on the South East shore of a Lake crossed by the Eastern boundary of the White Earth Reservation.19

Which gives me S.40° E. for a true course, for a line from the mouth of Thief River, to the head of Wild Rice River.20

Then he noted “all mile posts are marked on side toward reservation R.L.I.R. for Red Lake Indian Reservation: and on opposite side the number of miles from starting point.”21 He started his survey “from an Elm 12 in. diam. at the mouth of Thief River marked on the East side 0 as starting point” running on a S.40° E. bearing.22 At the end of a mile he set a post marked, as he had previously indicated, and described the land over which he travelled. He then continued along S.40° E. setting a post every mile and describing the nature of the land surface over which he ran his line, for the next 54 miles.23 He ended the line merely noting, “Set post for 55th mile post.”24

Immediately following his notes for the southwest boundary Merrill recorded his work for the southeast bound-ary.25 He started this leg of the boundary from Turtle Lake in the same way he started the previous leg, writing,

In order to ascertain the location of the head of Turtle Lake, I commenced at the corner of Townships 146 & 147 Ranges 37 & 38, on the north boundary of White Earth Reservation, and ran East & North to the head of Turtle Lake, Eastings 26 miles & 40 chains Northings 7 miles & 60 chains locating the head of Turtle Lake in section 28 Township 148 Range 33 – True course for line from the head of Turtle Lake to the mouth of Wild Rice river South 77° 30’ West.26

He commenced at a pine 10 ins. in diameter on the shore at the north end of Turtle Lake, which he marked “0” noting, “A road used in Winter leaves the Lake just to the right of the tree” and used a pine tree 10 inches in diameter as a post after the first mile.27 Interestingly, perhaps importantly, he marked trees for posts for the first 4 miles.28 He set a post at the end of the 5th mile.29 In his 6th mile something happened because

there is the following notation, “Notes closed here. The Res Lines crossed W Bdy sec 6 T147 R33 at 27.50 chs (N) cor 1. 6. 7 & 12 also line bet sec 5 & 6 at 45.50 chs (N) cor 5, 6, 7 & 8.”30 He continued to set posts at the end of every mile although one mile, the 7th, ended in a lake.31 In the 27th mile he intersected a “line running from the mouth of Thief River to the head of Wild Rice River 53 miles, 16 chains 75 links from the mouth of Thief River” and set a “Post for southern angle of Red Lake Indian Reservation” giving the bearings and distances to two trees.32 The notes close with Merrill’s notarized affidavit dated May 26, 1873, and the notarized affidavits of his crew dated Feb. 24.33 The Surveyor General certified the notes although, unusually, there is no date re-corded for his action.34 On July 15, the Surveyor General sent Merrill’s account to the Commissioner of the General Land Office writing, “Diagram & Transcript of field notes of said survey this day forwarded in separate package.”35

The following week, on July 22, the Commissioner wrote that he had received the plat and field notes of Merrill’s survey and his account. In addition, he wrote:

As it appears from said returns that the reservation includes a portion of surveyed land in Township 148 N. R.39 West Minn., you are hereby directed to suspend so much of the plat of said Township from the Local Land Office as by any possibility may be included within the Indian Reservation: At the earliest convenient time you will cause the lines of the public survey to be closed upon the line of the Indian Reservation and the areas of lots made fractional thereby calculated, correct the original plat of the township and transmit authenticated copies to this and the proper Local land Office.

As you have surveying parties at work in that vicinity I would suggest that you issue to some party already in the field special instructions for said survey at five ($5) dollars per diem and actual necessary expenses.36

There follows a gap of almost three years before the next concern over the boundary line. On January 11, 1876, the Commissioner wrote to Surveyor General James Baker,

Referring to our letter of March 4 -1875, directing you to withhold from the local land office the plats of Townships 148 N. Rgs 32 and 33 W of the 5th P.M. I have to inform you that upon a re-examination of the returns of survey of the boundary line of the Red Lake Indian Reserve by T. G. Merrill D.S. under contract dated Nov 21-1872, in connection with the eastern boundary by Nathan Butler D.S. under contract of March 26-1875, I am satisfied that said line by Deputy Merrill was not established in the proper place.37 You are therefore directed to cause to be noted upon the plats of Township 148



N. R.33 W. that the portion of section 4 within the reserve and sections 5-6-7 and 8, and that part of section 9 on the west side of the boundary line, is to be withheld from sale or disposal until the S.E. boundary is definitely established, also the fractional areas to be calculated upon both sides of the north eastern boundary line in this Township, in sections 4, 8, and 9 amend the original and triplicate accordingly and furnish this office with a diagram of the same, after which you will please file the triplicate plats of Townships 148 N. Rgs. 32 and 33 in the proper local land office. You will be advised by this office when exigency will require a re-survey of the line erroneously surveyed by Deputy Merrill.38

A Second Survey of a Portion of the South Boundary 39 On May 29, 1879, George F. Hamilton was awarded a

contract to survey “Part of the Northwestern & Southwest-ern boundaries of the Red Lake Indian reservation and of the exterior boundaries of Tp.150 R.40, Tp.151 R.41, Tps.152, 156 & 157 R.42 & township numbers 153, 154 & 155 R.43 W.”40

Following his work on a couple of exterior lines he obvi-ously discovered he would have difficulty in proceeding with his work, noting,

In surveying and subdividing Tps 154 R43, 152 R42, 151 R41, 150 R40 I made a long and thorough search at various places to find the Southwest boundary of the Red Lake Indian Reservation, in order to Establish corners at the intersection of the Townships and subdivision lines with the said boundary, as I was required to do under my contract for the survey of said Townships. At no point was I able to find any of the mile posts said to have been set on said line, or any marking of trees to indicate the location of the line. In order therefore, to connect my surveys with said boundary line I was obliged to rerun the same – which I did, beginning opposite the mouth of Thief River on the southern bank of Red Lake River at an Elm 12

in. dia which I found marked there for Starting point. I run S.40° E. 33 miles. In resurveying the line I found on the first 4 miles from the mouth of Thief River occasional cutting of brush along my line but after that I was unable to find any cutting or marking whatever. I was not able to find any of the mile posts said to have been set on said line although I made a thorough search for same, excepting that at 21 miles from starting point I found near my line a small aspen post lying on the ground marked 21 mile post. Said post had evidently never been driven in the ground and no marked line could be found running either way from said point. I am fully satisfied after a full examination that no well defined line was ever established for south west boundary of said Red Lake Reservation – The following are the notes of the survey of said line, as made by me.41

He started from a post found at the mouth of the Thief River marked “RLIR” and an Elm tree 12 inches in diam-eter.42 Then he ran on a bearing of S.40° E., the same bearing used by Merrill in his work, for the next 33 miles, to a lake.43 He described setting really prominent corner monuments al-though he only noted marking only one of them, the last one. The meander corner monuments were 4ft. long, 4x2ins. in diameter, and set 1ft. into the ground, and were described by two bearing trees. The half-mile monuments were 6ft. long, 4ins. square, and set 1ft. into the ground with two bearing trees where possible. Where there were no trees the posts were 6ft. long, 4ins. square, set 1ft. into a mound of earth 2ft. high that was 4ft. square and 2 pits 2ft. square 1½ft. deep 6ft. dis-tant.44 A charred stake was placed under the post. Curiously, the mile monuments were identical to the half-mile posts.45 At his end point, on the edge of a lake, he set a post 6ft. long, 4ins. square 1ft. into the ground with charred stake in a mound of earth that was 4ft. square and 2ft. deep with 2 pits



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2ft. square 1½ft. deep 6ft. distant. He marked the post “W.C. to 33d Mile Post.”46

The Southern Boundary ResurveyedOn May 28, 1885 the Commissioner of the General

Land Office directed the Surveyor General “to enter into a contract with a competent and reliable Deputy for the resur-vey and remarking of the South and Southwest boundaries of the Red Lake Indian Reservation from Turtle Lake to the mouth of Thief River.”47

The previous October, the Indian Agent at White Earth had written to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,

(T)he Red Lake Chippewas conscientiously believe that the south boundary of their reservation is not in compliance with 2nd article of treaty, Oct 2- 1863 (vide revision of Indian treaties March 3 – 1873 – line 11324 to 11330 Page 254) as now claimed by the Dept. This boundary extending from the head of Turtle Lake toward the head of Wild Rice River, they claim some 2½ mile farther south, or that much more territory on the southeastern portion, and that the land now claimed by T.B. Walker and on which part of his lumbering operations are now being carried on, is included in their cession. This southern boundary involves resurveying some 25 miles according to the scale on map this office.

Trouble is likely to arise & (word illegible) the Indians and the loggers unless this matter is settled.

This matter was examined into by the late Special Agent Wright, and late Inspector Chapman, who claimed the Indians were wrong, but failed to convince the Indians.48

Forwarding a copy of this letter, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs wrote to the Secretary of the Interior,

As regards the claim of the Red Lake Indians in respect of the location of the South boundary of their reservation, I would so submit that, even if their belief that the line was not run in accordance with the treaty, were well grounded, which I think is hardly the case, the feasibility of changing the line at this late date might well be questioned. The line referred to was surveyed by Deputy U. S. Surveyor T. G. Merrill, under contract of November 21, 1872, and I do not know that its correctness has ever before been questioned.49

I have no doubt it would be well to have the line re-run and plainly marked in a durable manner, and I therefore concur in the recommendation of Agent Luse whose estimate for that and other needed surveys is given as follows ….50

Following the “pecking order,” the Secretary, or rather the Acting Secretary of the Interior, wrote to the Commissioner of the General Land Office:

I transmit herewith copy of communication dated 2nd ultimo, from the Commissioner of Indian (together with enclosures therein noted), recommending the resurvey and re-marking of the South and Southwest boundaries of the Red Lake Indian reservation, Minn., from Turtle Lake to the mouth of Thief River….

Agreeably to the recommendation of the Indian Office, you are hereby authorized and directed to enter into contract for said resurveys, etc., under instructions similar to those contained in Departmental letter of September 20th last.51

And so, on June 22, 1885, Martin Chandler, the Surveyor General of Minnesota awarded Abner M. Darling a contract to resurvey “The SE and SW boundaries of Red Lake Indian Reservation.” A few weeks later he wrote to Abner Darling,

I send herewith your contract and special Instructions for re-survey of boundaries of Red Lake Indian Reservation and in White Earth Reservation which has been approved by the Comr of the Genl Land Office. You will see that the contract is for the re-survey and re-marking of the boundaries of the Red Lake Indian Reservation as originally run by Thos H. Merrill. It is understood that there is some dissatisfaction on the part of the Indians in regard to the location of the boundary. The contract is made in accordance with specific instructions received from the Comr of the Genl Land Office. He says “In the opinion of the Indian Office it is not possible to change the location of the South boundary of the Red Lake Reservation as suggested by the Agent and the old lines will therefore be re-established.”

I send you in separate package full copies of the field notes of Thos G. Merrill of his survey of said boundaries. They are however very incomplete and such notes never ought to have been accepted. I have also sent notes of Mr. Hamilton’s resurvey of 33 miles of S.W. boundary of the Red Lake Reservation made by him in 1879, when he subdivided the fractional Townships bordering in the S.W. of the reservation. He states that he could find no traces of the line run by Mr. Merrill.52

I also enclose tracing of these boundary lines showing the connections made with the boundaries by subsequent surveys. I think you will have no difficulty in finding the old lines from the date herewith furnished you.

I send you blank books in which you will write out your field notes, one book of notes of Red Lake Reservation, and one for White Earth Reservation.53

The same day he sent both the contract and instructions to the Commissioner and another copy of the contract to the Second Auditor of the U.S. Treasury.54

On August 5, 1885, responding to a letter from Darling, presumably working on the White Earth Reservation, asking




for an extension of time to complete his work, the Surveyor General wrote,

In order for you to get an extension it would be necessary for you to send a formal application to me stating reason why an extension is needed with the written consent of your Bondsmen to such an extension which I would forward to the Commissioner. I think however from the progress you have already made that you will be able to complete the work before Sept. 1st so as to avoid the necessity of applying for an extension.55

Darling ran the Red Lake boundary lines August 6 to October 25, 1885.56 By this time the rectangular surveys had spread into the area and would make his work more onerous. At the start of his work he noted,

In the re-survey of the SW boundary of the Red Lake Indian Reservation I find the Initial Point established by Thos. G. Merrill Deputy Surveyor to be on the south bank of Red Lake River opposite the mouth of Thief River, an Elm stump marked RLIR on E and 0 on W sides.

I reestablish as follows; set post 6ins square and 5ft long 1ft in the ground marked RLIR on its east face and 0 on its west face …..57

He marked two bearing trees “RLIR MC BT” and then started to run his line S 40°E, the same bearing used by both Merrill and Hamilton.58 At the Red Lake River he found a meander corner post but no bearing trees.59 He set a new post 3x4ins. in diameter and 5ft long, marked “RLIR MC” on its east and west faces, 1ft into the ground. At 10.17 chains he set a post 3x4ins. in diameter and 5ft long marked “RLIR MC” on its east and west faces 1ft into the ground and not-ed two bearing trees which he marked “RLIR MC BT.”60 At 40 chains he came across a post marked “½M RLIR” with mound and pits.61 He created a raised mound 2ft high with a base 3ft square, placed a charred stake in the mound, and then buried the 3x4 5ft long post, marked “RLIR” on the east face and "½" on the west face, 1ft into the ground, constructing two pits on the line measuring 18x18x12 ins.62 At 80 chains he clearly did not find any evidence of any post writing,

set post 4X4 6ft long 1ft in the ground marked RLIR on N and 1M on E faces, raised mound of earth 2½ft high 3½ft base charred stake (symbol) in mound three pits 18x18x12, 2 on line & 1 east.63

He then described the land surface over which his line ran.

Continuing along the second mile of the boundary line along a bearing of S.40°E., he came across a post with mound

& pits marked “RLIR” at 15 lks.64 At 3.75 he intersected the line between secs 34 & 35 and set a post 4x4ins. square and 5ft. long 1ft in the ground and marked it “T154N S35” on E, “R43W S34” on W and “RLIR” on NE faces.65 He noted “no trees near to (sic) wet for mound & pits.” At 26.42 chains he intersected the line between Tps 153 & 154 N and

set post 4X4 6ft long 1ft in the ground marked T153N R43W S2 on S. T154N R43W S35 on N & RLIR on E faces 12 from which a Balm Gilead 7 ins diam. bears S.50°E. 60 lks dist marked T154N R43W S2 BT no other tree near.66

At 40 chains he set a post 3x4ins. in diameter and 5ft. long 1ft. in the ground marked “RLIR” on E and “1½M” on west face and noted two bearing trees both of which he marked “RLIR 1½M BT.”67 At 40.75 chains he came across a post marked “RLIR 1½M.”68 At 80 chains he “set post 4X4 6 ft. long 1ft. in the ground marked RLIR on E and 2M on E faces,” noting again “no trees near to (sic) wet for mound & pits.69

Along the third mile, at 80 lks, he noted “a post marked RLIR on E and 1½M on W faces, with mound & pits.”70 At 40 chains he “set a post 3x4 - 5ft long 1ft in the ground marked RLIR on E and 1½M on west face, raised mound of Earth 2ft high 3ft base charred stake (N) in mound 2 pits on lined 18x18x12 ins.”71 At 48.00 chains he intersected the line between section 1 & 2 T.153N R.43W and set a post on line 4x4ins. in diameter and 5ft. long1ft. in the ground, which he marked “T153N S1” on E, “R43W S12” on W and “RLIR” on NE faces. He noted no trees near.72 At 56.75 he intersected the line between secs 1 & 12 and set a post on line 4x4ins. in diameter and 5ft. long 1ft. in the ground marked “T153N S1” on N, “R43W S12” on S and “RLIR” on NE faces noting, “no trees near – ground to wet for mound & pits.”73 At 80 chains he set post 4x4ins. square and 6ft. long 1ft. in ground on a charred stake and marked “RLIR” on E and “3M” on W face, “raised mound of earth 3ft. high 3½ ft. base 3 pits 18x18x12, 2 on line & 1 east of cor.” 74

He continued along the line finding corner posts, some of which were set in mounds and marked with pits, that marked the reservation boundary setting appropriately marked half-mile and mile-posts.75 Where he intersected the rectangular land survey lines he also established monuments.76 On the 17th mile he noted intersecting the Clearwater River.77 He reached the southwest corner of the reservation previously es-tablished at 53 miles and 11.00 chains.78

He then started the southeastern part of the boundary noting,




In commencing the resurvey of the S.E. Boundary of the Red Lake Indian Reservation I find the Initial Point established by Thos. G Merrill U.S. Depty Surveyor, to be on the west shore of Turtle Lake in the NW? of sec 21 Tp.148N R.33W 5th P.M.79

A dead spruce marked RLIR on N and on S faces

I reestablish said point as follows

Set post 6x6 ins, 6 ft long 2 ft in ground 25 lnks E of dead spruce on shore of lake from which , Blk Ash 3 ins. Diam. Bears N80W 9 lks dist: marked RLIR. 0.BT. Spruce 8 ins diam. Bears S 840 W 95 lks dist. marked RLIR. 0.BT. From there on true line S77° 30’W. Var. 13 E.80

He ran his line setting meander corners, half mile posts, and mile posts as appropriate on the line and posts where his line intersected the rectangular survey lines in T.147 R.35 T.147 R.36 and T.147 R.37.81 At the end of the 12th mile, he noted, “At this point found tree marked by Mr. Merrill for 12th mile,” one of the few references to any evidence of the former survey.82

On August 14, 1885, he reached the southwest corner of the Reservation where he found “post 4 ins square 5ft. long marked RLIR 26 47/80 on E and 53M on N.” and two bear-ing trees, apparently without any marks.83 He re-established the point by setting a post 6 inches square and 6 feet long one foot into the ground and marked “SW Corner RLIR on four faces,” noting four bearing trees, each of which he marked “SW Corner RLIR BT.”

A Third Set of field NotesBLM Vol. R0127 455-483 is a copy of Merrill’s field

notes contained in R0008. There is a note at the start of the notes “Rec’d with Sur Genls letter of July 18, 1873.” Also at the start of the notes is the heading “The SE and SW Bound-aries of Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minn” and the fol-lowing, “The S.E. Boundary of this reserve is erroneous Sec to Sur Gen of Minnesota Jary 11-1876." There is no further information about these notes.84

ConclusionDefining this one particular boundary line was complex.

It directly involved three deputies; Merrill, Hamilton and Darling who established the line. But, of course there were more than three deputies involved in locating the defined line, establishing and subdividing the townships through which the line would run and with which it would necessarily connect.

Describing these efforts is relatively easy with access to a digital database and a well-indexed manuscript collection at the Minnesota History Center. There will, of course, always be gaps in what we can know because of the absence of cer-tain documents, most notably the special instructions to both Merrill and Darling, but even without these members of the MSPS can produce various stories of the rectangular land sur-veys to keep alive the memory of those individuals in whose footsteps they are legally obliged to follow.

Notes1 I am trying to create metadata for the digital collection of plats

and field notes that can be accessed at http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/glo/index.html and http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx

2 There is, almost certainly, a map in the National Archives, and see note 36 below.

3 This introduces a new element in the surveying process previously unknown, at least to me. On several of the plats, e.g. T.148 R.39, which depict the area lying inside the Red Lake Indian Reservation in that township, is the legend “Connecting lines.” In BLM Vol. I5775 140-146 are the “Field notes of the Intersection of the South west Boundary of the Red Lake Indian Reservation with the survey of township 148 N. Range 39 W of 5th Principal Meridian made by Nathan Butler Dec. 19th 1874.”

4 10 Stat.1165. The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate on March 3, 1855 and proclaimed by President Franklin Pierce on April 7, 1855. The area ceded is called “Royce Area 445.”

5 Ibid.

6 13 Stat. 667. The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate on March 1, 1864, and proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln on May 5, 1864. The area ceded included land in Minnesota and the Dakota Territories is called “Royce Area 357.”

7 Ibid. Article 2.

8 The map and the numerical designation of cession and reservation areas was made by Charles C. Royce (compiler) in “Indian Land Cessions in the United States” Part 2, Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1896-1897. H.Doc. 736 56th Congress 1st session Serial Vol. 4015 online at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwss-ilc.html.

9 Under an agreement dated July 8, 1889, the Red Lake and Pembina Bands ceded an additional 2.9 million acres, see H. R. Ex. Doc. 247, 51st Cong., 1st sess., retaining control over a smaller area adjacent to Upper and Lower Red Lake that became known as the Diminished Red Lake Indian Reservation. This





area comprises the modern reservation adjacent to Upper and Lower Red Lake.

10 Uncertified copy of the field notes R0127.

11 I suspect I have omitted some additional surveys of the eastern and western boundaries. When I first started on this project, I thought I would only find one set of field notes for the southern boundary – silly wabbit!

12 U.S. Surveyor General, Letters Received vol. LIX 87-88 Enclosed with the Commissioner’s letter are copies of three additional letters. The first was from the U. S. Indian Agent for the Chippewa of the Mississippi at Leech Lake, Edward P. Smith, to the Commissioner of the Office of Indian Affairs, dated June 4, 1872, asking for the Red Lake Reservation because to be defined because he wanted to establish whether the timber he was currently holding, about 1,500,000 feet of pine logs, had been cut from the Red Lake Reservation. The second letter was from the Commissioner of the Indian Office to the Secretary of the Interior endorsing Smith’s view and “respectfully” recommending that the Commissioner of the General Land Office be “instructed” to have the line surveyed “as soon as practicable,” the cost to be defrayed out of “any money appropriated for the survey of Indian reservations. The third letter was from the Secretary of the Interior concurring with the recommendation of the Commissioner of the Indian Office and directing the Commissioner of the General Land Office to get the boundary surveyed.

13 Royce Area 706 was the area not ceded by the Red Lake and Pillager Bands in 1863 and called the Red Lake Indian Reservation. It is shown as Royce Area 446 in Figure 1. Royce Area 707 is the current Red Lake Indian Reservation, established after the Red Lake and Pembina bands ceded more land following an “agreement” in 1889, often referred to as “The Diminished Reservation.”

14 I can only assume that Thief River and Thieving River are the same.

15 U.S. Surveyor General of Minnesota, Letters Sent vol. N 35-36. I have not found a copy of Butler’s letter.

16 Ibid. 130-132.

17 BLM vol. R0008 3. The contract for $2,000 was approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office in a letter dated December 9, 1872. U.S. Surveyor General Letters Received vol. LIX 181.

18 At the time the 12th Standard Parallel, the line between T.152 and T.153 had been extended through R.42-45 by Jackson and Bruce under their contract June 3, 1873.

19 T.154 R.43 would not be established for a few more years. Just how he knew that the head of the Wild Rice River was “in the North West ¼ of sec 17 Tp.145 R.36 on the South East shore of a Lake crossed by the Eastern boundary of the White Earth Reservation” is unknown because although the western

and eastern exteriors of that township had been established, the southern and northern exteriors had not.

20 BLM vol. R0008 4-5 On page 5 of the notes, in pencil, is the comment “this point of starting should be the NE¼ of NW¼ Sec 30 T147 R37 & the SE. corner of reservation on S boundary of sec 22 T147 R33.” I would suppose that this comment was added at a later date.

21 Ibid. 6 Note that he did not set any half-mile posts along his line and he only recorded bearing trees at the end of the line he ran.

22 Ibid. 7

23 Ibid. 8-60

24 Ibid. 60

25 Ibid. 61-88

26 Ibid. 61. At the top of the page is the notation “Notes sent March 22d 1875 Commenced here.”

27 Ibid. 62.

28 Ibid. 62-65.

29 Ibid. 66.

30 Ibid. 67. This notation makes no sense because the reservation line does not pass through T.147 R.33 but rather T.148 R34 T.148 R.35 T. 147 R.35.

31 Ibid. 68.

32 Ibid.88.

33 Ibid. 91-92. Unusually, there is a second copy of Merrill’s affidavit.

34 Ibid. 95.

35 U.S. Surveyor General Letters Sent vol. N 109.

36 U.S. Surveyor General Letters Received vol. LX 135-136.

37 I am not at all sure what the Commissioner meant. I do not see in Butler’s field notes any evidence that Merrill’s survey was incorrect.

38 U.S. Surveyor General Letters Received vol. LXI 6-8.

39 This survey was not called a resurvey in the notes, except in the title, or on the plats. There really is no way to know that BLM vol. E5264 contains the notes of a partial survey of the southern RLIR boundary. Presumably, it was the monuments set by Hamilton that Abner Darling would find when he was contracted to carry out a dependent resurvey of the boundary, see text below.

40 BLM vol. E264 4. This description comes from the title page to his notes. Hamilton was probably not authorized to resurvey the reservation boundary but clearly found that he could not




establish township exteriors without establishing a portion of the boundary. He may not have been paid for the boundary work since deputies were usually directed to correct whatever they had to correct to carry out their contract without pay!

41 Ibid. 65-67.

42 Ibid 68. Clearly this was Merrill’s starting post.

43 Why he ended his survey there is unknown, presumably he only needed to run part of the boundary to carry out his work.

44 I have no knowledge of the appearance of the mounds and pits.

45 Curiously because mile monuments were usually distinct from half-mile monuments.

46 BLM vol. E5264 113. Hamilton would subsequently be contracted to join the rectangular survey lines with the boundary line but that is another story.

47 U.S. Surveyor General Letters Received vol. 73 94.

48 Ibid. 95.

49 Note there was no mention of the work completed by Hamilton.

50 U.S. Surveyor General Letters Received vol. 73 96.

51 Ibid. 97. I have not seen the letter of September 20, 1883.

52 I have not seen the special instructions. According to my research, Hamilton was running township exteriors.

53 U.S. Surveyor General Letters Sent July 6, 1885 vol. P 378-379. Finally, recognition that George Hamilton had made a survey and re-monumented the line.

54 Ibid. 379.

55 Ibid. 399.

56 BLM vol. R0007 3.

57 Ibid. 7.

58 Ibid. 8.

59 Ibid. 9. Merrill did not mention setting a meander corner post or noting any bearing trees.

60 Ibid. 9-10. Whether Darling marked the post and bearing trees as “mc” or “MC” is unknown.

61 Merrill made no mention of setting ½ mile posts or creating mounds in his work, so clearly this should have been one of Hamilton’s monuments—but Hamilton never mentioned marking his posts.

62 Ibid. 10.

63 Ibid. 11.

64 Supra note 61.

65 Ibid. 12.

66 Ibid. 12-13.

67 Ibid. 13.

68 Ibid. 13. Supra note 61.

69 Ibid. 14.

70 Ibid. Supra note 61.

71 Ibid. 14-15.

72 Ibid. 15 The plat for T.153 R.43 had been approved October 8, 1879.

73 Ibid.

74 Ibid. 15-16.

75 He does not mention whether he destroyed the earlier monuments.

76 He did not always find the rectangular survey line. On the 10th mile, for example, he intersected an old boundary post and set a half-mile post, at which point he stated, “At this point I made a long and careful search for the Tp line, also for sec line bet 3 & 4 & 3 & 10 but was unable to find any traces of them.” BLM vol. R0007 25.

77 Ibid. 36. Hamilton only surveyed 33 miles of Merrill’s line, presumably sufficient to enable him to fulfill his contract.

78 Ibid. 96.

79 The plat for T.148N R.33W had been approved January 22, 1875.

80 Ibid. 99-100.

81 There are usually two plats for each township through which Darling’s line ran. There is a complete plat for T.147 R.35 with a certified date January 13, 1875, and a second plat showing only that portion of the township lying inside the Reservation with a certified date February 17, 1892. There is a similar situation in T.147 R.36, a complete plat with a certified date April 24, 1875, and a partial plat showing the land inside the Reservation dated March 1, 1892. In the case of T.147 R.37 there is a plat showing the land outside the Reservation dated January 8, 1885, and one showing the land inside the Reservation dated March 25, 1892. Since Darling finished his line on August 14, 1885, it’s clear that he intersected the surveys of the lines outside Reservation.

82 Ibid. 119.

83 Ibid. 148.

84 I have not compared the information in vols. R0008 and R0127. This volume contains what appear to be copies of the survey notes of other reservation boundaries in Minnesota including the northwestern boundary of the Red Lake Reservation.


MSPS Technical Bill updateBy Nick de Julio, MSPS Lobbyist

It has been a productive 2015 Legislative Session so far, as the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors (MSPS) and the Minnesota Association of County Surveyors (MACS) have worked together to pass a technical housekeeping bill to provide guidance and consistency as well as to reduce re-dundancies in surveying-related statutes. In addition, the pro-posed legislative changes will address technological changes to the industry around the media used in the recording process.

Discussion of the language changes sought this session in SF 771/HF 794 first started in fall 2014, as both groups came together to address areas of concern for a housekeeping bill during the 2015-16 legislative sessions. After a workgroup of members from both associations came up with draft lan-guage, we began to work with other stakeholders to discuss our proposal and work through concerns. After reaching con-sensus on a number of issues, we got our language drafted and secured bill authors. With favorable hearings in the House and Senate, we were able to send our bills to House and Sen-ate floors with no opposition.

The House passed the bill off the floor with a 128-0 vote. We are still waiting for the Senate to take up the bill. We ex-pect the same result in the Senate; the bill would go then to Gov. Dayton for his signature.

The bill would make the following changes:

• Change requirements for perpetuating Public Land Sur-vey corners and the requirements for Certificates of Loca-tion of Government Corners: these are spread between multiple statutes (MS 160.15 and MS 381.12) with

cross-references between the two sections. The proposed revision uses consistent and clear terminology, eliminates redundancy, streamlines and simplifies.

• Restore options for using a notary stamp on mylars and removes a contradiction between 358.47 and 505.021. New language from the A1 helps clarify requirements with outlined statutes.

• Revise statute for what material a plat shall be prepared on due to current situation with shortage of mylars size. Also moves “OFFICIAL PLAT” and “copy” language moved from 505.04 into 505.021 for consistency.

• Add 8-point minimum text size requirement to be con-sistent with other statutes and maintain legibility when reduced copies are made, a common practice.

• Eliminate a conflict or contradiction for easements be-tween multiple statutes (505.021, subd. 7 and 505.01, subd. 3).

• Clarify what the County Surveyor is certifying when ap-proving a plat.

• Current statute only requires an exact reproducible copy if the plat includes both registered and non-registered property. The revisions provide more flexibility.

• Provide for an exception to requirements for maps or plats. Modify contradictory language which states that maps or plats do not have to comply with the require-ments that created it.

• Create exceptions to the recording standards for survey documents.

MSPS Calendar of EventsMSPS Board of Directors Meeting: May 21MSPS Board of Directors Meeting: June 18

MSPS Summer Meeting: July 30-31, St. James Hotel, Red WingMSPS Board of Directors Meeting: July 31

MSPS Board of Directors Meeting: September 17


Advance Surveying & Engineering Co.James Parker5300 South County Road 101Minnetonka, MN 55345(952) 474-7964 Fax (952) 401-1375http://www.advsur.com/

Bogart Pederson & Assoc., Inc.Dennis D. Pederson13076 1st StBecker, MN 55308(763) 262-8822 Fax (763) 262-8844www.bogart-pederson.com

Bogart Pederson & Assoc., Inc.Lee A Brown311 Division Street WestMaple Lake, MN 55358(320) 963-6900 Fax (320) 963-6060

Bogart Pederson & Assoc., Inc.13076 1st StBecker, MN 55308-9322(320) 252-0409 Fax (763) 262-8844

Bolton & Menk Inc.Janele Fowlds1960 Premier DrMankato, MN 56001(507) 625-4171 Fax (507) 625-4177www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk Inc.Joe Haefner219 North Main St.Fairmont, MN 56031(507) 238-4738 Fax (507) 238-4732www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk Inc.Jesse Zeig140 First Ave N, PO Box 434Sleepy Eye, MN 56085(507) 794-5541 Fax (507) 794-5542www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk Inc.Nate Stadler7533 Sunwood Dr. NWRamsey, MN 55303(763) 433-2851 Fax (763) 427-0833www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk Inc.Rory J Jensen35 South Park AvenueLeCenter, MN 56057(507) 238-4482 Fax (507) 625-4177www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk Inc.Nate Stadler7656 Design Rd, Suite 200Baxter, MN 56425-8676(218) 825-0684 Fax (218) 825-0685www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk, Inc.Richard Williams12224 Nicollet AvenueBurnsville, MN 55337(952) 890-0509 Fax (952) 890-8065www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk, Inc.Nate Stadler2638 Shadow Lane, Ste 200Chaska, MN 55318(952) 448-8838 Fax (952) 448-8805www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk, Inc.Nate Stadler2040 Highway 12 EastWillmar, MN 56201(320) 231-3956 Fax (320) 231-9710

Bolton & Menk, Inc.Richard Williams2035 County Rd. D East, Suite BMaplewood, MN 55109(651) 704-9970 Fax (651) 704-9971

Bolton & Menk Inc.Janele Fowlds2730 Ford StAmes, IA 50010(515) 233-6100 Fax (515) 233-4430www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk, Inc.Janele Fowlds2778 Commerce Dr. NW, Suite CRochester, MN 55901(507) 208-4332 Fax (507) 208-4155

Bolton & Menk Inc.Janele Fowlds1900 North Grand Avenue, Suite E-12Spencer, IA 51301(712) 580-5075 www.bolton-menk.com

Bolton & Menk, Inc.Nate Stadler4165 South 20th Ave., Suite 100Fargo, ND 58104(701) 566-5339 Fax (701) 566-5348www.bolton-menk.com

C.E. Coulter & Associates, Inc.John C Peterson1000 E 146th St, Suite 240Burnsville, MN 55337(952) 808-9500 Fax (952) 808-9501

Cornerstone Land Surveying, Inc.Dan Thurmes6750 Stillwater Blvd N, Ste 1Stillwater, MN 55082(651) 275-8969 Fax (651) 275-8976

Duffy Engineering & Associates, Inc.Barry R Dorniden350 Highway 10 South, Suite 101St. Cloud, MN 56304(320) 259-1234 Fax (320) 203-1234www.duffyeng.com

firm Member Directory


firm Member DirectoryE.g. Rud & Sons IncJason Rud6776 Lake Drive NE, Suite 110Lino Lakes, MN 55014(651) 361-8200 Fax (651) 361-8701www.egrud.com

E.g. Rud & Sons, Inc.Kurt Nelson255 Hwy 7 E.Hutchinson, MN 55350(320) 587-2025 Fax (320) 587-2595www.egrud.com

Egan, field & Nowak IncLee J Nord1229 Tyler St. NE, Suite 100Minneapolis, MN 55413(612) 466-3300 Fax (612) 466-3383www.efnsurvey.com

Engineering Design & Surveying, Inc.Vladimir Sivriver6480 Wayzata Blvd.Minneapolis, MN 55426(763) 545-2800 Fax (763) 545-2801www.edsmn.com

Hakanson Anderson AssociatesCharles Christopherson3601 Thurston Ave.Anoka, MN 55303(763) 427-5860 Fax (763) 427-0520www.haa-inc.com

Hayes Surveying & Mapping PCMaureen Hayes18 Brandon LaneGrand Marais, MN 55604(218) 387-2532

Houston EngineeringJeff Langan208 4th St. E.Thief River Falls, MN 56701(218) 681-2951 Fax (218) 681-2987

Houston Engineering IncCurtis Skarphol1401 21st Ave. N.Fargo, ND 58102(701) 237-5065 Fax (701) 237-5101www.houstoneng.com

Houston Engineering, Inc.Bart Schultz6901 E Fish Lake Rd, STE 140Maple Grove, MN 55369(763) 493-4522 Fax (763) 493-5572www.houstoneng.com

Hult & Hebeisen, P.A.Dale F HebeisenPO Box 37Forest Lake, MN 55025(651) 464-3130 Fax (651) 464-4822www.hultmn.com

I&S group, Inc.Daniel Stueber115 East Hickory Street, Suite 300Mankato, MN 56001(507) 387-6651 Fax (507) 387-3583www.is-grp.com

I&S group, Inc.Daniel Stueber1415 Town Square LaneFaribault, MN 55021(507) 331-1500 Fax (507) 331-1501www.is-grp.com

James R. Hill Inc.2500 West County Rd 42, Suite 120Burnsville, MN 55337(952) 890-6044 Fax (952) 890-6244

Jones, Haugh And Smith, Inc.Steven Thompson515 S Washington AveAlbert Lea, MN 56007(507) 373-4876 Fax (507) 373-1839jhseng.com

Kramer Leas DeLeo, P.C.James Kramer1120 Industrial Park Rd. SWBrainerd, MN 56401(218) 829-5333 Fax (218) 829-5377www.kldland.com

Kramer Leas DeLeo, P.C.Sam DeLeo11 North 7th Avenue Suite 100St. Cloud, MN 56303(320) 259-1266 Fax (320) 259-8811www.kldland.com

Loucks AssociatesPaul J McGinley7200 Hemlock Lane, Suite 300Maple Grove, MN 55369(763) 424-5505 Fax (763) 424-5822www.loucksassociates.com

Loucks/Sanders Wacker BerglyPaul J McGinley365 East Kellogg Blvd.St. Paul, MN 55101(651) 221-0401 Fax (651) 297-6817www.swb-loucks.com

Massey Land Surveying & EngineeringRichard MasseyPO Box 100Kasson, MN 55944(507) 634-4505 Fax (507) 634-6560www.masseylandsurveying.com

Moore EngineeringJeffry J. Volk925 10th Ave E.West Fargo, ND 58078(701) 282-4692 Fax (701) 282-4530

Moore Engineering, IncChristopher D Heyer1808 E. Fir Ave.Fergus Falls, MN 56537(218) 998-4041 Fax (218) 998-4042www.mooreengineeringinc.com

MSA Professional ServicesDennis Honsa60 Plato Blvd East, Suite 140St. Paul, MN 55107(651) 334-8413 Fax (763) 786-4574www.msa-ps.com

MSA Professional Services134 Roosevelt Shore Dr. NEOuting, MN 56662(651) 334-8413www.msa-ps.com

Oliver Surveying & Engineering, Inc.Rick M Blom580 Dodge AvenueElk River, MN 55330(763) 441-2072 Fax (763) 441-5665www.oliver-se.com



Oliver Surveying & Engineering, Inc.580 Dodge Ave NWElk River, MN 55330-2875(952) 894-3045 Fax (952) 894-3049www.oliver-se.com

Otto AssociatesPaul E Otto9 West Division StBuffalo, MN 55313(763) 682-4727 Fax (763) 682-3522www.ottoassociates.com

Prairie Land SurveyingJohn Veroeven1047 E. Main St.Mankato, MN 56001(507) 469-5997 Fax (507) 216-4399www.prairielandsurveying.com

Rehder & Associates, Inc.Thomas J Adam3440 Federal Drive, Ste 110Eagan, MN 55122(651) 452-5051 Fax (651) 452-9797www.rehder.com

SambatekMarcus Hampton12800 Whitewater Dr., Ste. 300Minnetonka, MN 55343(763) 476-6010 Fax (763) 476-8532www.sambatek.com

Sathre-Bergquist Inc.David Pemberton150 S. Broadway Ave.Wayzata, MN 55391(952) 476-6000 Fax (952) 476-0104www.sathre.com

Schoborg Land Services, Inc.Kelly L Brouwer8997 Co Rd 13 SEDelano, MN 55328(763) 972-3221 Fax (763) 972-3223

SRf Consulting group, Inc.Matthew D. Hansen1 Carlson Parkway Suite 150Plymouth, MN 55447(763) 475-0010 Fax (763) 475-2429www.srfconsulting.com

Stonebrook Engineering IncAaron Mages12279 Nicollet Ave.Burnsville, MN 55337(952) 540-4845 Fax (952) 403-6803www.stonebrookeengineering.com

Stonemark Land Surveying IncPatrick A TrottierPO Box 874Pequot Lakes, MN 56472(218) 568-4940 Fax (218) 568-5404www.stonemarksurvey.com

Sunde Land Surveying, LLCLenny Carlson9001 East Bloomington Freeway, Suite #118Bloomington, MN 55420(952) 881-2455 Fax (952) 888-9526www.sunde.com

Survey Mapping Solutions208 Second St NE, Suite BLittle Falls, MN 56345(218) 850-8334 www.surveymapsolutions.com

TKDA Inc.444 Cedar St., Ste 1500St. Paul, MN 55101(651) 292-4400www.tkda.com

ulteig Engineers, Inc.4285 Lexington Ave. N.St. Paul, MN 55126(651) 415-3800www.ulteig.com

ulteig Engineers, Inc.1041 Hawk St., PO Box 150Detroit Lakes, MN 56501-0150(218) 847-5607 Fax (218) 847-2791www.ulteig.com

ulteig Engineers, Inc.3350 38th Ave SFargo, ND 58104(701) 280-8500 Fax (701) 237-3191www.ulteig.com

ulteig Engineers, Inc.5701 S. Corporate Pl, Ste. 1Sioux Falls, SD 57108-5007(605) 323-2306 Fax (605) 323-2308www.ulteig.com

W. Brown Land Surveying, Inc.Woodrow A Brown8030 Cedar Ave. S. Ste 228Bloomington, MN 55425(952) 854-4055 Fax (952) 854-4268

Widseth Smith NoltingChris Jordheim1600 Central Ave. NEEast Grand Forks, MN 56721(218) 773-1185 Fax (218) 773-3348www.WidsethSmithNolting.com

Widseth Smith NoltingChris Jordheim2850 24th Ave SGrand Forks, ND 58201(701) 795-1975 Fax (701) 795-1978www.WidsethSmithNolting.com

Widseth Smith Nolting - AlexandriaBryan T. Balcome610 Fillmore St, PO Box 1028Alexandria, MN 56308(320) 335-5023 Fax (320) 762-0263www.WidsethSmithNolting.com


Widseth Smith Nolting - BaxterChad M. Conner7804 Industrial Park RdBaxter, MN 56425(218) 829-5117 Fax (218) 829-2517www.WidsethSmithNolting.com

Widseth Smith Nolting - BemidjiScott Buxton315 - 5th St NW, PO Box 398Bemidji, MN 56649-0398(218) 444-1859 Fax (218) 444-1860www.WidsethSmithNolting.com

Widseth Smith Nolting - CrookstonGarrett Borowicz216 South Main StCrookston, MN 56716(218) 281-6522 Fax (218) 281-6545www.WidsethSmithNolting.com

Widseth Smith Nolting - RochesterPeter Oetliker6301 Bandel Rd NW, Ste 301Rochester, MN 55901(507) 292-8743 Fax (507) 292-8746www.WidsethSmithNolting.com

MSPS Chapter Chairs:

A reminder to send your meet-ing notices and minutes to the

MSPS office so that we can post the information on the MSPS

website.

Send information to Eric Ewald at [email protected] or to

Laurie Pumper at [email protected] — we will be happy to

promote your Chapter events!



Sustaining MembersThe Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors appreciates the continued participation and encourages your sup-port for the following Sustaining Members of MSPS:

Berntsen International, Inc.Tim KlabenPO Box 8670Madison, WI 53708-8670(608) 249-8549www.berntsen.com

fred Meyer Technology ServicesFred Meyer14558 Joppa Ave. S.Savage, MN 55378(952) [email protected]

frontier PrecisionSteve Richter2852 7th St. N.St. Cloud, MN 56303(320) 654-6511Fax (320) 654-6520

10900 73rd Ave. N., Suite 120Maple Grove, MN 55369(763) 496-1366(877) 698-3077 Toll-Freewww.frontierprecision.com

geoshack DirectThad King1307 Springlake RdDallas, TX 75234(972) 918-5300geoshack.com

Harrison Marker Co.Ellen JohnsonBox 66Anoka, MN 55303(763) 421-1445www.harrisonmarker.com

Leica geosystems IncChris Rotegard4107 158th Street WestRosemount, MN 55068(612) 385-6067www.leica-geosystems.us

Martinez geospatial, Inc.Steve Martinez2915 Waters Road, Ste 100Eagan, MN 55121(651) 686-8424www.mtzgeo.com

Quantum SpatialMiles Strain13400 68th Ave NMaple Grove, MN 55311(763) 420-9606www.quantumspatial.com

RDO Integrated Controls9201 East Bloomington FreewayBloomington, MN 55420(952) 948-1606www.rdointegratedcontrols.com

Trimble NavigationDiane Sierra10355 Westmoor Dr.Westminster, CO 80021(720) 587-4967ww2.trimble.com

OBJECTIvEThe objective of this association is to unite all the registered Land surveyors in the State of

Minnesota, to elevate the standards of the surveying profession in the State of Minnesota; to establish basic minimum requirements for surveys, to assist in promoting legislation and educational pro-grams to improve the professional status of the land surveyor; to work in cooperation with local, county and state governments in our field of endeavor; to uphold a rigid code of ethics and strive to improve our relations with our clients and the public by work with precision and integrity.

Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors

MINNESOTA SURVEYORMinnesota Society of Professional Surveyors1000 Westgate Drive, Suite 252St. Paul, MN 55114-1067(651) 203-7256 • (800) 890-LANDwww.mnsurveyor.com

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